Bursitis In Shoulders | Symptoms And Treatment

The term ‘bursitis’ refers to the inflammation of the bursa – a small slippery cushioning sack within a joint space that helps reduce friction between the moving parts in the joint. There are more than 150 bursa in the adult human body.  Elbow bursitis and shoulder bursitis are the two most common types of bursitis. Today, we are going to discuss bursitis in shoulders.

Bursitis in Shoulders

Bursitis in the shoulder often called impingement syndrome or rotator cuff tendonitis is the most common cause of shoulder pain. Bursitis in the shoulder is characterised by inflammation of the bursa cushioning the shoulder as well as inflammation of the rotator cuff tendons.

Signs and symptoms

Some of the common symptoms of shoulder bursitis are:

• pain on the outside or the tip of the shoulder
• swelling and redness around the shoulder
• shooting pain when the shoulder is touched
• pain with certain shoulder movements
• reduced range of motion
• pain gets worse when lying on your affected shoulder
• pain may spread to other parts of your arm such as your elbow or wrist

If the shoulder bursitis is caused by an infection, the patient may also experience the following symptoms:

• high fever
• muscle aches
• generalized joint pain
• chills

Treatment

Luckily, most of the symptoms associated with shoulder bursitis can be relieved by using a simple treatment such as the RICE method:

R – Rest

I – Ice

C- Compression

E- Elevation

In addition to this, your doctor may advise any of the following treatments to relieve discomfort and treat shoulder bursitis:

• Medications – anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen and Aspirin can help reduce inflammation and relieve the discomfort to a great extent
• Steroid Injections – if medicines fail to provide any relief, your doctor may use corticosteroid injections in or around the shoulder bursa. It offers quick relief, and in many cases, one injection is all you need.
• Physical Therapy – the basic aim of physical therapy or exercise is to strengthen the shoulder muscles to ease pain and prevent recurrence.
• Surgery – sometimes none of the above options yield any significant results, under such circumstance, surgery is the last resort. Surgery is aimed at reducing the pressure in the bursa or repairing the damage.

If you are experiencing shoulder pain book now with one of our experienced practitioners for an assessment and treatment

Melbourne Natural Therapies
Bursitis In Shoulders
Myotherapy Melbourne